On Saturday afternoon he said: “I am very sorry to announce the death of my step-mother Patricia, who died peacefully after a long illness on 4th May 2018.

“She was at her home, Harewood House, where she had lived during her long marriage to my father and where, since his death in 2011, she has continued to live, in a house they both loved.

“My thoughts are especially with her sons, Michael Shmith and Mark Lascelles, with her brother Barry Tuckwell and with her wider family both here in the UK and in Australia, where she was born and lived the first part of her life.

“Her funeral will be held at Harewood and full details will be announced in due course.”